Gas and liquid contact apparatus



J. E. MOUL GAS AND LIQUID CONTACT APPARATUS Sept. 5, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 22, 1945 INVENTOR James E. Moul BY w M ATTORNEYS Sept. 5, 1950 J. E. MOUL GAS AND LIQUID CONTA CT APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 22,. 1945 INVENTOR JamesEMoul BY Mi QLAL ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 5, 1950.

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ,4 $521,36 a v 3 t V GAS LIQUID con'rAc'r APPARATUS knee in Meat, semaale, n. Y; Betta tn The TIIPBOMBEI. cameraman, York Ni SA, a corporation of New York. V V liiipiicaticn mama 22, 1 45-, Serial exerts 1 ifivefitiit relates 'fi gfi flhfi iiqtfifi con' 1356b apparatas T9?- the firit fiihg treatment or i'i eids with gases er viceversa. It is ear ticuiariy applieatleto mixine or dissolvingtanks in which the iiqtiiti is eireuiatee by the 01" more rbtatinginipeiiers while gas is introdcceci and brought ifl fii'i ifltihiat'fi' cohtfibt with the iiqniii.

in apnaratus of this; type it is desirable ta cause the gas intronneeti into the liq'tlitl to be reduced to bubbles of the smaii'est practicabie size for the reason that the smaller the Bubbies produced the liquid, the fg' re'ater the relative surface of gas presented into. contact with the liquidate cons quently the morerama the intEIIafitlOi'i between {91S afld" tl'ill quiii. MOTE- ove;-,, the. smaner the bubbles of gas are. the less i'S their fi''c'tii buoyancy t'fidifig t6 CQQIE'E the gas ta to 'thesuriaee, and the ies's? tendency there is tor. the bubbles which approach each bthi to break. th tlrfac tllSiGII '01" the bfw'ii tliffl Elia. bals' Tflt'f) litiger bubbies'. Thus, "in api'aaratus bf thl'tsv tgy'pe finpcrtant (T6- si'dera'ta are th prompt al iti efficient breaking.

or fifl incoming 2'25 Tfltf) Smallest. partiales or bubbles that is practic ble, and. quickest possible dispersion of slick entitles. or billbb'les throughout thevliq u'id. I These results have heretofore -been. sought to be attained in various ways of which inyolvec'i agitation or churning oi the liquid; as the gas. is introducec t. For many purposes, however,, appreciable agitation or churning is unde sirable because. of the large exgenditure. oi energy: itrequires,, whichzenergy is irrecoverabgle anti; becomes a considerable item of expense in atcommerci'al; installation. I

It. isimportant therefore in z op'erationsrofi this kind commercial plants that thedifiusi'onof the. gas be accomplished; with as little. expentiiture of energy as: possible, and that. prolonged; entraimnent. of. the gas in the. liquid he obtained. with as. little exhenditure. ofenergy as possible... It. is therefore desirable: that, onthe discharge. of the gas into. the liquid i'tbe 1m.- meiately separated. into tsmallt bubbles wimgut churning an undue. agitation and that then the bubbles be widely dispersefit thez 'liquidl and. be entrained" therein for a relatively long time Various, (ievice's have been employed heretorare to, cause the incoming gas. to be broken up. into small. htihbies, sllchas screens anti; dispers ingtargets, ageinst wmen the gas dischargetll The present invention not onlyobtains. the ad: vanta e tithe breaking f" the lit oii Of a Glam. (CL-26149391 ingtheliiqnid and commineleri. gas: away rrent the regiment impact, so that the: gas may. pa e; into a general circulation of the liquid with the least pecsibleaagitation thereof. Aise the present in ventionxeimpiifies and improves the apparatus 2mm a etrzueturai standpoint.

obiect of the invention is to accomplish efficient and rapid interaction of a gas a liquid, with relatively smal consumption of mechanical energy. A

Another obg'ect of the invention it reduce agitation and churning in connection the introduction: of. the, gas into the liquid.

e iurthe-r object of the invention in to clis= charge -the gasin aor jets against a new ing target for the purpose, not only of spreading the. .j;et and breaking up the gas into: time hubbles butalso for the otimose of aiding-in entraining the, gas the adjacent liquid and forming a common current and direction of. flow with a minimtun of counter-flown Acltiitionat objects oi the invention are touac compliant the results above indicateci withouttrodnci ng into the: liquid. bearings or supports hate movement relative to; other me:- chanical parts within the body at liquid, anti to aecognplieh the ieei-recl. results with mechanism in. which: the circulatory reaction is balanced to avert lateral stresses.

Various; other. objects and advantages will appear tothose ski-Heel inzfbheart on consideration oi the ioilowing; disclosure.

My invention is clearly defined in; the am pendent claims; the claims; as Welles in the e soription parts are: at times identified by specifienanies tor-clarity and; convenience, but such nomenclatureis to be understood ens-having, the broadest meaning, consistent with the context ands with. the concept ot' my invention as distinguished; from the pertinent prior artt The best. form which I have contemplated ap ni y' inve-zcttionv illustrated in the accentepanyingjlrawinge forming part of this specifica in which;

F g. a partly diagrammatic vertical sec tion showing an apparatus. ember-flying the inyention.

Fig. is a diagrammatic elevational view showing a third form of rotary gas target which may be used in apparatus such as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic elevational view showing a fourth form of rotary gas target which may be used in apparatus such as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic elevational view showing a combined circulator and rotary gas target which may be used in apparatus such as shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, a tank or container I is provided for reception of acharge of liquid 2. A liquid inlet conduit 3 may extend inwardly to the central axis of the tank and be turned vertically upwards at 3'. An inlet valve 4 is provided to control introduction of the charge into the tank. An outlet or drainage conduit 5 and outlet valve 6 are suitably placed to drain the contents out of the container I, for cleaning of the container, or for removal of the charge when treatment has been completed if batch procedure is being used. For continuous procedure valve 6 may be kept closed, and the liquid be continuously fed into the tank through inlet 3 and be continuously drawn off through outlet pipe 5' which is controlled by valve 6'.

Upon a suitable support I above the container I, is mounted a motor 8 which rotates a depending shaft II] on which is mounted a circulator or impeller 9. This impeller has a hub 9a aflixed to shaft I0, and has a series of blades such as 9b which extend outwardly from the hub for a substantial distance. The series of blades is wholly or partially covered by disc-like member 90, and the impeller discharges outwardly in a horizontal plane. Preferably motor 8 and shaft I0 are so Preferably nozzles 14 are equally spaced about target II so that the reactive forces produced by the jets of gas will balance out and not impose lateral thrust on shaft I0. Upon leaving the nozzles the gas is promptly and uniformly broken up into fine bubbles by the rotating target. 1 As the bubbles are formed they are promptly entrained in the currents of liquid being drawn upwardly by impeller 9. If the target I I be a shell or open-ended cylinder as shown in Fig. 1, part of the ascending liquid will pass inside of the target and part outside of the target in streamline fashion. The spokes II of the gas target may be formed as propeller blades which augment the flow of that portion of the liquid that passes upwardly through the target.

' The size of the target is so related to the impeller that the ascending mass of gas bubbles will be squarely engaged by the blades 91) of impeller 9. After discharge by the impeller, the mixed liquid and gas moves outwardly to a zone adjacent to the tank wall, then downwardly to a zone near the bottom of the tank, and then inwardly toward the axis of the tank and back upwardly. As this circulatory movement progresses, the gas bubbles gradually separate out and rise to the space at the top of the tank. From this space the gas may be allowed to pass off through pipe I'I, which is controlled by valve I8.

The rotary gas target, instead of being a cylindrical shell, may be of other forms, such as a frusto-conical shell which may be mounted on I the shaft either big-end-up or big-end-down.

mounted as to coincide with the central vertical axis of container I.

Fixedly secured to shaft I0, beneath impeller 9, is a rotary gas target II which may be in the form of a shell having a smooth cylindrical peripheral surface II which is coaxial with the shaft I0. shell with a hub which is aflixed to the shaft. The size of shell II is so related to the blades 91) of impeller 9 that the inner ends of the impeller blades are substantially closer to shaft I0 than is the outer surface 1 i of gas target, and the outer ends of the impeller blades are substantiall farther from shaft I0 than is the outer surface II of the gas target.

A conduit or pipe I2, which is controlled by a valve I5, serves to lead gas under pressure into the tank for interaction with the liquid. Pipe I2 communicates with an annular header or manifold I3 (see Fig. 2) from which an annularly disposed series of nozzles I4 extend in such direction as to discharge streams of gas against the surface II of the rotating target. The streams of gas are directed at an obtuse angle to the surface of cylinder II, that is in respect to the vertical plane angle measured upwardly from the stream to the surface II of the cylinder. While the streams of gas may be projected in radial planes, the nozzles may be inclined in the direction of rotation of target II as shown in Fig. 2 thereby diminishing agitation A series of spokes II connect the or churning of the liquid adjacent to the surface of the target. By placing the ends of the nozzles close to the target, the gas will be compelled to spread rapidly outward in a relatively thin sheet, thereby facilitating the breaking up of the gas into small bubbles which will be rapidly dispersed.

Fig. 5 shows a frusto-conical gas target IIb mounted big-end-down on the shaft It], while Fig. 6 shows a frusto-conica1 target I I0 mounted 'big-end-up on the shaft it. Whatever the form of the targets, the jets I4 (one shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 6) are preferably so inclined that the streams of gas are impinged on the surface of the target at an obtuse angle in respect to the vertical plane angle measured upwardly from the stream to the surface of the target. The frusto-conical targets shown in Figs. 5 and 6 may be providedwith a hub .affixed to shaft I9, and the shell may be connected to the hub by means of spokes which act as propeller blades as explained in connection with Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. '7 shows a gas target H01 in the form of a big-end-up frusto-conical shell secured directly to the underside of impeller 9. In this case the target requires no hub for attachment to the shaft I0, but the interior of the target may be provided with propeller blades to aid liquid flow upwardly through the target. With the combined impeller and rotary gas target shown in Fig. 7 the gas nozzles I i (two shown) are also preferably so inclined to the target that the streams of gas will impinge thereon at an obtuse angle measured upwardly in a vertical plane from the stream to the surface of the target.

While Figs. 3, 5, 6 and '7 show diagrammatically only one or two gas nozzles M to illustrate the angle with respect to-the surface of the target, it will be understood that these targets may be used with an annularly disposed series of nozzles as explained in connection with Figs. 1 and 2.

For certain purposes the surface of the gas target, whatever its form, may be roughened or striated to aid in breaking the gas into small bubbles and intermixing the gas with the liquid. Figs. 3 and 4 show a gas target I la, similar to the gas target II in Figs.- 1 and 2,'except that the outer cylindrical surface I6 is roughened by vertically extending striations. The striations may extend in other directions, e. g., horizontally as shown in Fig. 6, or they may be inclined upwardly, preferably in a trailing direction with respect to the rotation of the target thereby aiding in advancing the liquid toward the impeller 9. While vertical striations have been shown only on a cylindrical target and horizontal striations have been shown only on the big-end-up frusto-conical target of Fig. 6, it will be understood that vertical striations, horizontal striations, or inclined striations may be used on any of the forms of gas target shown.

When gas targets of forms such as shown in Figs. 3 through 7 are used, the impeller 9 has blades of substantial length extending outwardly from the shaft and the gas target is so related to the impeller that the inner ends of the impeller blades are substantially closer to the shaft 10 than is the outer surface of the gas target, and

the outer ends of the blades are substantially farther from the shaft than is the outer surface of the gas target. By means of this arrangement, the mass of gas bubbles rising from adjacent to the surface of the gas target will be squarely engaged by the blades of the impeller, as previously explained in connection with Figs. 1 and 2.

I claim:

1. Gas-and-liquid-contact apparatus comprising: a tank for the liquid, a rotary shaft depending into the tank, a circulator for the liquid having a hub aflixed to the shaft and having blades of substantial length extending outwardly from the hub, a rotary gas target positioned beneath said circulator, said gas target having a frustoconical surface coaxial with the shaft and so positioned that gas bubbles rising from adjacent to said surface will be engaged by the blades of said circulator, and a plurality of annularly disposed upwardly directed nozzles for impinging gas on said rotary frusto-conical surface whereby the gas is divided into small widely dispersed bubbles which rise in the liquid and are engaged by the blades of the circulator.

2. Gas-and-liquid-contact apparatus comprising: a tank for the liquid, a rotary shaft depending into the tank, a rotary gas target aflixed to the shaft, said gas target having an exterior surface coaxial with the shaft, said surface being of circular cross-axial section and being of substantial dimension lengthwise of the shaft, a plurality of annularly disposed nozzles for impinging streams of gas on the exterior surface of the rotary gas target at obtuse angles thereto in respect to the upward arc from the line of the stream to the surface of the target, and a circulator for the liquid, the circulator being located above the gas target, having a hub aifixed to the shaft, having blades of substantial length extending outwardly from the hub, the inner ends of said blades being substantially closer to the shaft than said gas target surface, and the outer ends of said blades being substantially farther from the shaft than said gas target surface.

JAMES E. MOUL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 844,996 Colbath Feb. 19, 1907 1,505,204 Kiernan Aug. 19, 1924 1,854,754 Morris Apr. 19, 1932 2,123,816 Utsman July 12, 1938 2,170,496 Gard et a1 Aug. 22, 1939 2,308,751 Guthrie Apr. 24, 1941 

